The Stories We Live
by Nomad-117
Summary: Since before the dawn of human civilization, a secret war has been fought within the shadows. It didn't stop when mankind discovered that they were not alone in the universe, it merely… spread.
1. Asari Diplomacy

_**Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own_ _Assassins Creed_ _or Mass Effect, they are owned by Ubisoft and Bioware respectively._

 _ **Summary:**_ _Since before the dawn of human civilization, a secret war has been fought within the shadows. It didn't stop when mankind discovered that they were not alone in the universe, it merely… spread._

 **Chapter 1: Asari Diplomacy**

As Shao leaned on the handrail of the embassies bar balcony, she was once again reminded why she hated to work in the Presidium. It wasn't the heightened security measures, she had both expected them and had dealt with them before, and it certainly wasn't the peaceful atmosphere or the beauty that was flaunted at every corner.

In fact she appreciated both of them, after all, her occupation as an Assassin made sure that she spent most of her time at places far less hospitable than this one. No, what bothered her were the clothes she had to wear to blend in. They were uncomfortable and seemed to itch her everywhere, despite the fact that she wore her far more practical combat suit underneath. Despite this, her outer layer still seemed to impede her movement, slowed her down and made sure that she couldn't make a fast escape should she need one.

Of course, if she made no mistakes, then she wouldn't need one, but she would feel better if she could, should things go haywire. With a sigh she first checked the occupants of the bar and then her clock on her omni-tool. Shao's target had yet to appear, but if she followed her usual modus operandi then the Assassin shouldn't have to wait for much longer.

Nassana Dantius was a creature of habit, and she always showed up at the embassies bar at around six PM, and apparently she wouldn't even change her habits to meet with the freshly announced first human spectre, Jennifer Shepard, that she had contacted on said Spectre's private omni-tool.

Shao had an educated guess as to why the Asari emissary decided to contact the Spectre, but if she had anything to say about this then Shepard and the emissary would never meet in this life. Nassana had undoubtedly asked them to meet her after she had settled down. The diplomat prefered to meet with others only after she had already been served. No matter the urgency.

If that had failed to cement the Assassin's opinion about Nassana's arrogance, then the fact that she proudly displayed a Templar's cross on her necklace certainly would have done the trick. Of course, it wasn't as simple as simply spotting everyone wearing a Templar cross to identify the members of that secret order, even though it was true in the case of Dantius, a lot of people wore the symbol simply because they thought it looked cool or because of its more mundane religious implications outside the Order, given its similarity to old Earth religious icons such as those used in Christianity and its like.

However, Shao wasn't here to kill Nassana because the latter was a Templar. No, she was here because of the way Nassana treated her subordinates, and those she viewed as 'beneath' herself. In fact while the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order could hardly be considered friends, they still got along to a certain degree in this day and age. Similar to the situation in France before the events of the French Revolution the two secret societies had decided to keep a truce, at least to a certain degree.

If Shao were to guess, she would say that she would have difficulties finding a templar that would mourn Nassana's passing, although she wouldn't be too surprised if some were to thank her. _Perhaps I will get a message from one of my acquaintances within the order._ Shao thought with a small shrug. On some occasions Assassins and Templars had worked together, for example during the invasion of Shanxi, or in retaliation to some Batarian slave raids.

The Templar Order might have been about control and creating the perfect society, more or less by force, but slavery, especially conducted as cruelly as this was something that they hated as much as the Assassins. And while most of the Templar agents lacked the fighting prowess of their assassins counterparts, they made up for it in numbers, and excellent preparation.

When the two of them were working together, the battles against the batarian slavers were nothing more than a one sided massacre.

 _Enough! You can contemplate the past later, right now you have a mission!_ Shao reprimanded herself, and shook her head. The Assassin's focus snapped back to the patrons of the bar and her surroundings. Her target had yet to appear. A quick glance at her clock revealed that Nassana still had one minute left before she was officially late for her usual evening rituals.

 _Speak of the goddess, and she shall appear._ Shao thought wryly, using a more asari saying for this occasion as Nassana Dantius strode into the bar, looking as if everyone in the room were beneath her. The smug, superior gleam in her eyes was hard to miss even from the balcony, let alone the cocky little lilt to the asari's lips. After imperiously nodding at the barman, to signal him that she wanted her usual drink, she strode towards Shao.

The Assassin turned around, pretending to drink in the sights of the Presidium. It wouldn't do for her to make the target suspicious, now that she was finally within reach.

Nassana would undoubtedly sit with her back to Shao, so that she could easily watch all newcomers. While not a bad idea, she simply lacked any form of rear cover. Once the Barman had given Nassana her drink she would turn around, check if anyone was watching and then she would strike.

As it turned out she didn't have to wait long for the Barman to bring the Asari her prefered beverage. He probably was used to her moods by now and knew not to make her wait. "Here you go, Miss Dantius." She heard the man say, followed by a soft 'clink' as he set down the glass in front of her.

"Thank you." Nassana said but she sounded anything but grateful. She heard how the man retreated to his place behind the counter.

Shao internally counted to thirty before she slowly turned around and let a seemingly bored gaze wander across the room. Of course she was anything but bored, on the inside she was on high alert, looking for anything that might endanger her assassination attempt.

Unfortunately for her she found it in the form of a human man that was, judging from his shameless staring, rather interested in Dantius. Shao had to violently suppress the urge to roll her eyes, anyone who was paying even a little bit of attention would notice that Nassana was anything but interested in a flirt at this moment of time, provided that she ever felt like it.

Still, it was hardly a problem she couldn't overcome. She signaled the barman to come to her, even though she had to bait him with a credit chit until he finally approached her.

"How may I help you miss?" He asked her politely, an open smile on his face.

"Excuse me, but would you be so kind and bring this gentleman over there." She subtly pointed in the still staring mans direction. "Another drink with my regards?"

The barman looked at the man in question for a moment and then back at her, for a brief instance he seemed to contemplate whether to tell that said man had obviously no interest in her before apparently deciding against it. "Certainly, miss. That would be twenty credits, please."

"Twenty five." She told him with a small smile and gave him the money.

"Thank you, miss." The barman said, turned around and walked back behind his counter, where he immediately began to prepare the drink.

Now, all she had to do was to wait for the right moment. The barman walked towards the poor guy and she too began to move, the moment the barman blocked the man's line of sight she struck. Her hidden blade extended from her wrist and pierced the Asaris left lung and aorta.

Nassana managed only a strangled gasp at the sudden pain, she would have slumped forward, but Shao held her in place. For all who would watch her right now it would merely seem, as if she had given the Asari a friendly clasp on the back and was now talking to her.

When Shao looked up she could see the guy smiling at her. Apparently he thought that she was trying to endear him to her Asari 'friend' or perhaps even something as outlandish as suggesting a threesome. She graced him with a smile in return, if it helped her to maintain this illusion then she didn't care what the man thought.

Under other circumstance she would have simply left now, but she needed to make sure that Asari wouldn't make it, and to walk away only to have lover boy over there discover Nassana's less than optimal medical condition and to apply medi-gel thus ending up saving her waste of a life before she had had a chance to expire, would be beyond careless.

She was rather certain that the wound she had dealt Nassana was fatal, but medi-gel had proven to be surprisingly efficient, and in her business that could prove to be quite annoying.

So instead of simply leaving she sat down next to the Asari and smiled at her, after all, appearances needed to be kept. She decided to pretend that she and Dantius were having a friendly conversation.

"Don't worry, it won't take long." Shao told her latest victim, it was something she took pride in. No unnecessary suffering if she could prevent it, death was meant to be dealt out swiftly, not slow and agonizing. Assassin she might be, but Shao had learned long ago that such a messy business as theirs deserved some measure of reverence and respect for those they killed. Even a woman as twisted as Nassana deserved some small mercy, even if it was as simple as making sure her transition to the next life was as painless as possible.

Nassana began to silently mouth back, which of course only helped to maintain the charade of a conversation. Even though Shao heard no sound escape the Asari's lips, she could guess what she had asked. The simple question 'Why?' was rather popular.

"To explain my reasons would take far longer then you have left, but I _can_ tell you this. I take no pleasure in this, and regardless of what you have done in life, I hope that you find peace in death." Shao told her earnestly, and slowly removed her hand from the Asari's back.

Nassana Dantius, Templar, emissary, and ruthless criminal, was dead. Her body still sat upright, giving the illusion that she was still alive, but the lack of movement along her sternum, as well as the quickly fading light from the asari's eyes, said she was gone and not coming back.

"Goodbye." Shao told Nassana's shell, before she stood up and left the bar. Her work here was done, it wouldn't do for her to linger here any longer. Especially not today, after all Nassana was scheduled to meet with a Spectre.

She hadn't gotten far when a male scream tore the pleasant atmosphere in the Presidium asunder. That poor guy had apparently approached Nassana under the belief that Shao had prepared her 'friend' for his advances, and instead he discovered the still warm corpse of the woman he had admired all evening.

Her musings were cut short when she heard the sound of armored boots running towards the embassies bar. She threw a glance over her shoulder and what she saw made a whole bunch of conflicting feelings rise within her.

Three soldiers, all with their weapons drawn, ran towards the source of the scream. A turian in blue C-Sec armor, hefting an assault rifle, next to him a human man in standard marine armor, though she managed to spot a glimpse of his biotic implant. Though those two were not the reason for her conflicting emotions, no, that honor belonged solely to their leader.

A human woman with flaming red hair and piercing green eyes clad in N7 armor, the first human Spectre, Jennifer Shepard. Although none of the facts above were responsible either, her emotional turmoil originated from the fact that she had known Shepard once.

In fact, they had been friends, even though Shepard was her senior by a year. It seemed so long ago, at that time both of them had been so carefree, unburdened by the heavy responsibilities both of them carried now. Back then, things had been so much simpler, before the attack on Mindoir.

Unlike her friend, Shao hadn't been one of the lucky ones to escape. She had been forced to watch as her family was killed before her eyes, before those animals had implanted her with one of those horrific control devices.

She had spent the next three years in slavery, enduring things that were better left forgotten but were always lurking in the dark corners of her mind. She still bore the scars of that time, both mentally and physically. At that thought her right shoulder seemed to come alive with phantom pain as she remembered how they had branded her like cattle.

In the end she had been freed by a group of Assassins and Templars. After everything she had suffered she had enough for a dozen lifetimes of control, so she chose the path of the Assassins. With her past experiences she had gained a new appreciation for the freedom of will.

She had spent the next months healing from the horrors she had endured, before she began to train through the Animus. As it turned out, there had been Assassins in her family before, none as famous as Ezio or Altair but nonetheless people who were very skilled at what they did. However roughly one-hundred and fifty years before she was born, her family decided to leave the way of the Assassins behind, she had seen their reasoning and couldn't fault them, but for her this was the right path. In some ways, it had been the only path for her.

And yet none of what she had done or seen helped her right now. A part of her wanted to meet her childhood friend, to reconcile with her. Another part of her feared that they had lived apart for too long. After all she never would have thought that the quiet farm girl she knew would become an Alliance special forces soldier, let alone a Spectre, the first human Spectre at that.

She couldn't help but snort at that thought. _Yeah, and I'm certain that Jenny never would have thought that the daughter of the local doctor would join a secret society comprised of the greatest Assassins in the history of mankind._ Shao thought with a small twitch of her lips. She hesitated for another moment before she turned around and disappeared into the crowds. Perhaps she would talk to her old friend again, one day, but not today. She wouldn't even know how to begin.

 _Hey Jenny! Don't you recognize me? It's me, your buddy Shao! Heard you were made Spectre, congratulations. Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking. I got a new job too! Remember that Dantius woman that wanted to meet you here? Guess who stabbed her?_ She couldn't help but think sardonically. If she were to contact her friend, then certainly not shortly after killing someone. If she went back there now, she would undoubtedly be recognized, and that would be unacceptable. After all, one of the tenets of the Creed was to "Never compromise the Assassin Brotherhood."

With a sigh, she left the Presidium and checked the data on her omni-tool, she had other concerns then a reunion with a childhood friend.

An appointment with Dahlia Dantius for example.

 **Endnotes:**

 _ **Nomad-117:**_ _I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new story, (and I hope that all the people who hoped for an update for one of my others don't murder me in my sleep), to be honest I am not sure where I am going with this. But I hope that I will find the time to write chapter two in the near future._


	2. Sharjila

**Chapter 2: Sharjila**

In retrospect, Shao had to admit that it was almost disturbingly simple to find a ship that would take her to Sharjila, the planet where her latest target had taken up residence. She had worked with the crew of the _Applebee_ before, though they remained unaware of her true motives. Every member of the small freighter's crew was willing to face the dangers of a pirate attack if they could get money out of it.

And even though they were willing and prepared to trust Shao, at least to a certain degree, she would have found it impossible to convince them of this trip were it not for the data provided by the informants of the recently deceased Nassana Dantius. Scans of the planet revealed natural deposits of rare metals, such as Thorium and Uranium. Once she had revealed that little fact, they were all too eager to travel towards the remote planet.

Shao couldn't exactly blame them, the money they could make out of this was substantial, and with her share alone she would have been able to live comfortably for a while, if she didn't spend it on new weaponry or other acquisitions necessary or useful for her line of work. With that thought, Shao slowly lifted her head and looked around the small workplace, Festus the turian captain had provided her with. It was spartan, and she made sure that she either wore all of her belongings or that the rest of them were within reach.

While not bad people, the crew of the _Applebee_ could be rather greedy, and some of her equipment would fetch a good price on the black market. Though none of the firearms would be worth stealing, she had made sure to only take models with her that were easily available in the various weapon stores or on the black market. To take spec-op grade equipment with her would have only drawn unnecessary attention.

The only thing drawing any attention right now was the jian sword strapped to her back. The blade had been masterfully crafted and was sharp enough to effortlessly cut through even the best of modern day body armor. Shao preferred blades in close quarters over shotguns, if necessary she would simply suppress the enemy with a few salvos of her assault rifle and then move in for the kill, provided that she didn't shoot them in the first place.

A knock on the door drew her attention and she immediately stopped working on her disassembled sniper rifle. She put her mask, that doubled as a helmet, over her face, before pulling her hood up as well and answered the door. In front of her door stood a volus by the name of Tur Akra. Shao was rather fond of him, since he always made sure to be polite to everyone he met, no matter the mood he was in. Though she supposed that if he hadn't the ability to simply ignore all the madness around him, the little volus would have gone crazy a long time ago.

"Miss Misaki, may I have a moment of your time?" He asked polite as ever and even bowed a little in her direction.

Beneath her hood and helmet Shao couldn't help but smile at Tur. They may had worked together before, but that didn't mean that anyone on the _Applebee_ knew her real name. To them she was simply Mei Misaki, a low profile bounty hunter that prefered to work alone.

"Of course, please come in." Shao replied and stepped to the side to grant the little alien entrance.

With a grateful nod, he stepped into her quarters and looked around, apparently utterly unsurprised by the fact that almost nothing in the room hinted towards the fact that it was currently in use. He took another deep breath before addressing the Assassin.

"I am afraid that you're already aware of the reason for my visit, Miss Misaki." Tur Akra said, his voice sounded both apologetic and resignated.

"Ah, I was wondering how long it would take Festus to send you here. So I take it he nagged at you for so long until you simply agreed to meet with me, so that he would finally stop bothering you?" Shao asked, her voice betraying her amusement she felt at the situation.

"Essentially." The volus agreed and nodded exasperatedly. "Still, I feel like I have to at least pretend to try to convince you, if you would indulge me Miss Misaki?"

"By all means, please do, and even though I know that it is pointless to ask this but please, just call me, Mei." Shao said and sat down on her bed, before offering the only chair in the room to her guest.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't feel comfortable if I were to simply call you Mei, Miss Misaki." Tur Akra replied, seemingly scandalized at the mere thought, though Shao was reasonably certain that this was his idea of enjoying himself, even if it was by something as simple as childishly refusing to use her first name, well fake first name. "However regarding Festus's request. I once again ask you to give us the blueprints of your stealth system, or at the very least allow us to scan it. Just think of the mutual financial benefits both parties could draw from this."

"Look, Tur. I know you take care of the financials of your little family. But you have to admit that giving everyone this technology would harm your group in the long run. Besides, I already told you, I bought it from a thief if you want it, just ask her." Shao told him with another concealed smile. The last part wasn't exactly true, some blueprint copies of an advanced prototype stealth-system had been stolen from the Brotherhood.

Of course they had first suspected the Templars, and with good reason. However, later Shao discovered that not their age old enemy was behind the theft but a master thief known as Kasumi Goto. By the time they discovered the true identity of the thief, the woman had already disappeared, and that had earned her Shao's respect if nothing else. Of course, they had tried to see if the woman would try to sell the stolen technology, but apparently she had decided that it was more profitable to merely build one such system for herself and not tell anyone else the secret of her technology.

Which was why Shao had decided to put an end to the hunt of the elusive thief. Well that and the fact that all reports indicated that Kasumi Goto wasn't a threat, just an amusing nuisance that tended to steal from those that were truly dangerous, much like Nassana had been before Shao had caught up with her.

"Yes, this Kasumi Goto you mentioned. We haven't had any luck in finding her, and I think you knew that we wouldn't find a trace of her, Miss Misaki." Tur answered shrewdly and looked her in the eye, or rather where her eyes most likely were beneath the mask.

"Guilty as charged." The Assassin admitted with a small shrug. "Now that you have done your duty and tried to convince me, allow me to guess the other reason why you are here. You came to tell me that we would arrive soon, probably around right now. Unless of course I misjudged you?"

"Guilty as charged, Miss Misaki." Tur Akra echoed and tilted his head to the side and nodded towards her still disassembled sniper. "I suppose you will join us in the hangar in about five minutes, given the state of your rifle?"

"Correct, and please tell Festus that despite his insistence I won't take his krogan friend, Dunar I believe, with me." Shao told him and walked over to the table and began to assemble her rifle. She would probably need it today.

"Of course, Miss Misaki. He will undoubtedly await your arrival." The volus replied before exiting the room as fast as his short legs would carry him.

True to Tur Akra's word, Festus waited for her when she stepped into the hangar exactly five minutes later. He was flanked by an asari she identified as Jeleris Prana, his right hand woman and ex-commando. On his other side stood a black armored krogan, since he was a new addition to the group, Shao guessed that he was the very same Dunar that had already been mentioned to her.

"Mei! So good of you to join us. Akra already told me that you wanted to do this alone, but come on, please take at least Dunar or Jeleris with you." Festus said and gave her the Turian equivalent of an innocent smile.

"Thanks for the offer, but you just want in on the bounty if I find anyone down there." Shao replied with an eyeroll since subtlety certainly wasn't the turian's strong suit.

"Ouch, that you would think so lowly of me." Festus shot back in mock hurt, and even went so far as to clutch at his chest before letting his taloned hands fall to his side. "Besides, we both know you wouldn't be here if you weren't certain that you would find whoever you are looking for down there."

"That's true." The Assassin admitted easily before fixing him with a small glare. "Now, do we have to waste more time with things that have already been decided, like let's just say the blueprints for a system you are dying to get your hands on, or can we go down there and do our jobs?"

"Mei, can you blame me? Anyone would want to get this system as badly as I, or worse!" The turian whined back and rolled his eyes before dropping his head in surrender. "Fine, yes. We can go down there whenever you're ready. So where do you want to land, I bet you already have an idea."

"You know me too well." Shao deadpanned, before summoning a holographic map with her Omnitool. "I want you to take me to the Thorium deposit, from there I can get to the target on foot and undetected. The usual deal, you get eighty percent, I get the rest of the profit. Agreed?"

"You just know what I want to hear, if only you were turian." Festus told her wistfully and shook his head. "Alright, deal. Just send us the coordinates of the other deposits and we'll fly you to the end of the galaxy if you want us to."

"Already done. Let's get down there." Shao commanded and stepped into the old turian shuttle that rested in the hangar. It may have been old, but it was still reliable, just like the rest of the ship. Which of course meant that this whole trip would draw less attention to hear then if she had gotten a private ship to fly here. Private crafts were expensive, and the kind she would need for her job would rouse too much suspicion, so Shao had sought a way around that and found it in the form of the _Applebee_ and her crew.

Jeleris and Dunar climbed into the cabin with her while Festus took his seat in the cockpit. With a low rumble, the engines sprung to life before the shuttle accelerated out of the hangar and towards the planet's surface. The whole time she could feel Jeleris staring at her until she had enough and her head snapped up to meet the startled eyes of the Asari. "You have a question." Shao stated rather then asked and narrowed her eyes beneath her hood. "Go ahead, ask. I just can't promise that I will answer truthfully."

"It's been bothering me for a while but… your name isn't Mei Misaki, is it?" The ex-commando asked once she had recovered from her surprise.

"It is today." Shao replied simply and looked down again, her mind already back on the target beneath her.

Unlike her sister, Dahlia was no Templar, and as vile as Nassana had been she had been able to think in the long term, and she certainly hadn't been stupid. One couldn't allow themselves to be stupid if they wanted to advance in the galaxy. In comparison, Dahlia was short sighted, never seeing the bigger picture, unable to predict the consequences of her actions, and while she wasn't stupid per se, she certainly would never be accused of being a genius.

Dahlia had founded a group that specialized in slavery, and while exact numbers were unknown, there was likely no more than twenty. Shao would have to get to the slavers' base undetected and try to find out if there were any slaves being held at the moment. If so, this whole thing could get more complicated, if not, she could theoretically blow the whole building to kingdom come. Though she would prefer a more subtle approach, blowing up the whole building would ensure the death of those within, but it would also ruin any chance to identify the victims. She would prefer it to see Dahlia's last moments in person since she hated the thought of destroying the complex, only to later discover that her initial target had somehow escaped.

With a shudder, the shuttle landed on the surface of Sharjila, the doors opened and Shao jumped out, assault rifle at the ready. The other two occupants of the cabin followed suit. "You sure that you don't want any help, Mei?" Festus couldn't help but ask as he looked around the barren planet.

"Positive. Just make sure to pick me up once I'm done." Shao replied before she activated her cloak and disappeared from view. Even though she was invisible, she opted to move carefully. It was always unwise to underestimate the enemy.

However, she was confident that, in case of an attack, she could fight them off long enough to get to a more advantageous position. Just because weaponry was standard didn't mean that the same held true for her armor. Her skin tight bodysuit was made of flexible armor weave, and highly resistant, her kinetic barriers were far stronger than normal, and the scanners in her armor scanned everything around her in a certain vicinity for any sign of danger.

For a moment she wished that she had also brought her Assassin's robes, which could do much more than merely conceal weapons from sight. However, given the difficulty that went into their manufacture, she had thought it a waste to bring them here. _What's done is done. They would have been useful, but hardly necessary. The day I need them to eliminate my target is the day I retire._ Shao thought grimly, and slowly climbed up the mountain in front of her. From its peak, she should have a perfect view of the slaver base beneath.

The following minutes went by in absolute silence, as she slowly gained altitude while making sure that there wasn't a threat in sight. Of course, once she reached the mountain peak she wasn't even out of breath since the training she had received had been far more grueling. Even initiates would have completed such a climb without trouble.

Her thoughts however were far away from her training days as she looked through the scope of the sniper at the building below her. _Single main building, surrounded by six watchtowers, only four of them manned. On the ground, two patrols, three slavers each, circling the building clockwise._ Shao mentally identified. _I should be able to kill the guards in the towers without anyone noticing, but I have to do this fast in case they keep in radio contact._

With that thought, Shao slowly moved the crosshairs of her rifle to the head of one of the guards. She held her breath, de-cloaked, took the shot and re-cloaked. The guard's helmet was thrown back, and he collapsed silently. She immediately moved on to the next target, and repeated the process. Now that the guards in two towers that could see each other were neutralized, she checked if anyone had noticed.

The patrols continued on as if nothing had happened, and the other two watchtowers hadn't noticed anything either. Releasing a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, she went about her work and killed the rest of the tower guardians. Again she checked if anyone had noticed that their allies were no longer amongst the living. Still the patrols continued on as if nothing were wrong. _Sloppy_. Shao thought and put her sniper rifle back onto her back. _Any military unit would have called in by now, their loss is my gain._

With a small shrug at her own thoughts, Shao decided that now was the time to get closer to eliminate the rest. She didn't doubt her abilities as a sharpshooter, but it should have been practically impossible to kill all three of them without one of them managing to radio in. She pushed it from her mind though as she carefully slid down the mountainside. The whole time she kept her eyes on the patrols. It didn't take long for her to lose sight of the second patrol as she got ever close to the ground and the building in the middle of the compound which blocked her sight.

Something that she had expected, so she saw no reason not to continue as planned. As soon as her slide had stopped, she stood up and slowly moved towards the patrol that she could see. She slowly drew a throwing knife from her armor and prepared herself. She was less than two steps behind the last guy when she chose to strike. Her left hand shot forward, the hidden blade at the wrist shot forward and found its mark in the neck of the one nearest to her. With her right hand, she threw the knife into the back of the head of the one at the other end of the short line. Without pause, she moved towards the man in the middle and twisted his neck violently to the side.

She eliminated all three of them within a few heartbeats without raising the alarm, but now she had to eliminate the other patrol as equally silent before they found the bodies of their friends. For a moment, she contemplated the idea of running around the building to attack them from behind as well but decided against it. She had a better idea.

Shao re-cloaked and walked towards the second patrol, retrieving her bloody throwing knife. She saw the patrol a little sooner than she had expected, but they still weren't able to see the bodies of their fallen allies, which was all that was important right now. She waited until the first man had stepped past her and then she threw the knife at the man at the back of the line. While the knife was still flying through the air, she stepped forward, and used the hidden blades that had extended from both of her wrists to pierce the throats of the other two guards.

Shao re-cloaked again and checked for any signs of trouble, but it didn't seem like anyone had noticed her presence. Even so, she suspected this could be a ruse to lull her into a false sense of security. Still, time was of the essence, so she retrieved her throwing knife and went to check one of the dead guards' omni-tools.

If they had recently brought slaves here, then she should find data of that on there, provided they actually bothered with that. There was the distinct possibility that only Dahlia Dantius would have any kind of useful data on her omni-tool. After searching two more omni-tools for data, and coming up empty, she decided that she had wasted enough time. She had other ways to spot potential slaves once she was in there.

She walked up to the door and pressed the button to open it, which it immediately did. _No codes or anything? Arrogance seems to be a common problem in the Dantius family_. Shao thought incredulously, literally anyone could walk up and just walk in if they wanted to. _Then I should do my best to play to their weaknesses_. Shao now stood in a small room that probably served as some kind of airlock, with another door that would undoubtedly lead her right into the middle of the slavers' base. Her suit's sensors were also picking up life signs within. She waited until none of the red dots were near the door before she opened it, slid in, and closed the door behind her.

After a moment of tense waiting, she concluded that no one had noticed her entrance. She crouched down behind one of the many boxes within the base and concentrated. The world around her seemed to change, most of the colors seemed to slowly bleed away into a dull grey, but the slavers were clearly visible as beacons of red light, even through the walls. On the second floor, she saw a single golden light, Dahlia Dantius, and on the far side of the room a closely huddled group of blue lights, civilians under normal circumstances, slaves in this one, that would complicate things.

She stopped concentrating, and the world started to return to normal, though she still could see the golden outline of Dahlia on the second floor. Her eagle vision, as the ability all Assassins had mastered to a certain degree was called, had shown her all she needed to know. There were six enemies on this floor, an asari, two humans, a krogan, and two salarians. One human stood in front of the cages in the back, she would need to eliminate him first.

Silently she crept through the room, she might have been invisible but it was better to be safe than sorry. However, even with her cautious advance, it didn't take her long to reach her intended target. After making certain that no one could see her, she de-cloaked, much to the shock of the slaves within the cages. Ignoring them, she stepped forward and snapped the man's neck. She slowly lowered the man to the ground, otherwise his comrades would get suspicious, something she wanted to avoid after having gotten so far without anyone noticing.

"Listen I am here to help you, but I need you to stay quiet, alright?" Shao questioned the slaves in the cage in front of her gently and looked around for threats, only to see a salarian approaching. Without waiting for an answer, she cloaked again, and dragged the body of the human out of sight. She had originally planned to slowly pick them off, one by one, but when she got close to the salarian, one of the slaves suddenly stared over his shoulder. She didn't know if he could perhaps see the light distortion of her cloak, or perhaps he merely stared because he expected her to appear any moment now, whatever the reason the salarian noticed the stare as well and turned around, alarmed.

Seeing no other option she extended her hidden blade and plunged it deeply into his throat, preventing him from calling out to his allies. However, Shao knew that she was about to be discovered and unfolded her assault rifle and moved away from the cages. When the firefight started, she didn't want to be anywhere near them, otherwise every round that missed her would probably end up in one of the unfortunate slaves within the cages.

Pressing herself against another one of the boxes, she slowly leaned forward and spotted a target of opportunity. The remaining human and salarian out in the open, she had the chance to kill them both if she acted now. She took aim at the human's head and began to slowly squeeze the trigger when the krogan began to shout. "Blood! I smell blood, salarian blood!"

She pulled the trigger, and wasn't surprised when the first few rounds were deflected by his barriers but the rest shattered them and burrowed themselves deep into his flesh.

Shao was about to repeat the process with the salarian when he was suddenly yanked out of her line of fire by a biotic pull. _So they can work together_. Shao thought, mildly impressed, and took cover as the krogan rounded a corner and began to fire his enormous shotgun at her position.

 _Not the first time I fought against a krogan. Just keep your calm_. She told herself, and slowly pulled out two throwing knives. _These should do the trick_.

She vaulted out of cover, threw both knives at him and rolled behind another box for cover. For a moment there was only silence, then the krogan began to laugh as he beheld the two tiny knives sticking out of his chest. "You think thats gonna kill me? I'll enjoy eating you."

Shao didn't bother with a response and merely pulled the trigger that ignited the explosives within the knife handles. The krogan was literally blown apart, and she was rather certain that she saw his arms fly off in different directions. _Perhaps a bit much, but krogan are tough. Better end up using overkill then ending up as his chewtoy_.

The good news was that the krogan was dead, the bad news that now all the surviving slavers, including Dahlia, were firing at her position. After blindly firing over her cover to keep them on their toes, Shao had decided on a rough plan. Kill everyone else, then Dahlia. Admittedly it wasn't that detailed yet but she was working on it. Firing another blind salvo, Shao engaged part one of her plan. She cloaked, put her rifle onto her back and instead drew her sword. Invisible and silent, she moved towards the position of the other two slavers and jumped over the boxes they used as cover. She hit the ground with barely a thud, though she knew that her two enemies couldn't have missed it and spun around, although she knew that her sword was already piercing the asari's chest, which in turn pretty much nailed her to the storage container behind her.

Letting go of her sword, she turned towards the salarian that had started to aim a pistol at her. She merely grabbed his arm, twisted it until his own pistol was aimed at his face, and pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed against her mask, but she wasn't bothered by it, not anymore.

Dahlia seemed to realize that she was all alone now, for Shao saw her golden outline disappear in a biotic flash only to stop next to the slave cages. Before Dahlia had the chance to say anything, Shao had re-cloaked and was already headed in her direction.

"I don't care who you are, but you will surrender, or I will kill every last one of them! You hear me? I will kill them!" Dahlia shouted at the top of her lungs, her breathing erratic, panicked even. The asari had apparently thought that no one would ever find her here. Now she and her subordinates were paying the price for that belief.

Shao drew another throwing knife and pressed her back into the box next to Dahlia, a quick glance around its corner showed a trembling pistol pointed at the head of an asari, probably no older then Dahlia herself. "Go into the middle of the room with you hands up, or I will blow this bitch's-" Dahlia began to rant, and that was when Shao struck. Her knife sailed through the air, knocking the pistol out of the asari's grasp. The Assassin's hand batted away Dahlia's other hand out of the way, which cleared a path for her hidden blade. It effortlessly pierced the hardsuit's collar and the throat beneath. What happened next was not entirely surprising to Shao, but she was still far from used to it.

She and Dahlia seemed to be alone in a glowing blue-white room, and despite the grievous injury to her throat, Dahlia was capable of speech. Shao suspected that it was somehow connected to her eagle vision. After all, it seemed to be connected to her mind as well, for if she did not wish it to happen, then it wouldn't.

"Did my sister send you?" Dahlia asked slowly, glaring at her definitely even in the face of death. "I should have known better than to blackmail her."

"No, your sister didn't send me. I am here on my own volition." Shao replied calmly and retracted the hidden blade. The deed was done and this was Dahlia's last moments in the galaxy. There was no more need for the blade or any other weapon for that matter.

"So you came for revenge. After all the people I have sold, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that one day one of their brood would come for me." Dahlia spat out, clearly struggling now in her last moments of life.

"I have no personal quarrel with you, only with your kind, slaver. If I came for vengeance then I did not do so consciously. No, I came to put an end to you and those who followed you. May your deaths make this galaxy a brighter place. Rest in peace." Shao told the asari softly, and slowly lowered her to the ground.

As soon as the asari died, the world seemed to snap back into focus, and revealed the captured slaves that were staring at her with terror in their eyes. Not too surprising considering what they had just been forced to witness. "Are you alright?" She asked them softly, keeping her voice and body language as nonthreatening as possible. The only response she got were nods. With a small nod herself, she activated the omni-tool of the now deceased Dahlia Dantius, and used its authority to open the cages.

"I'll get you all out of here, but first I have to call my friends. They will take you first to their ship and then to the Citadel." Shao told them as kindly as possible, and went to retrieve her sword from the corpse of the asari she had skewered earlier. At the time, she called Festus, his crew and he should be finished as well.

"Mei! Glad to hear from you, guess you want us to pick you up?" Festus asked her cheerily, apparently more than satisfied with the mineral deposits she had pointed him towards.

"You told me that you would fly me to the end of the galaxy if I asked you to. Not exactly the favour I have in mind, but I nonetheless call that one in." Shao told him seriously not in the mood to joke around on such a topic.

"Mei? Whats going on? Are you hurt?" Festus asked, now concerned, she had never talked to him like that before, so it was only natural for him to worry.

"The guys I were after, they were dealing with slavery. There are around twenty freshly liberated captives here. I want you to take them to the _Applebee_ and then to the Citadel." Shao told him simply and checked her equipment for any damage while also keeping an eye on the people she had just freed.

"Twenty? I will have to make two trips to get them all to the ship before picking you up, but we'll get them out of here." Festus promised her, and in that one moment reminded her why she was actually rather fond of him. He would often try to annoy her just for the heck of it, and would pester her about giving him access to her stealth technology, but he was still a good man at heart. Otherwise, he would have used the situation to try and force her into agreeing to hand her technology over.

It took a little longer then Shao would have liked to get the first group into the shuttle, due to the need to make sure that none of the group was exposed to Sharjila's hostile atmosphere, but in the end they had gotten everyone of them out of there, which was what counted the most.

Nutrition was a little scant on their way back to the Citadel, but they got by, somehow. Shao met with Festus once they had docked with the great space station that was widely regarded as the centre of civilized space. "Festus, I just wanted to thank you. You didn't have to do this." Shao began but was waved off by the turian.

"Eh don't mention it, Mei. Didn't seem like the right thing to do and simply let them rot down there, none of them had asked to be there and just want to go home I imagine." The captain of the _Applebee_ said with a small shrug.

"You are a good man, Festus. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." The Assassin told him with a smile beneath her mask.

Festus chuckled and shook his head in response. "Heh, many would disagree."

"They don't know you as well as I do then." Shao countered without missing a beat. "However there is one last thing, my share for this job. Could you make sure that my money is shared equally among them? I want to do more then just kick them out of the airlock here and wish them good luck."

"Tur and Jeleris had a similiar idea. You are the first to put it so resolutely though. You sure you want to do this, Mei?" Festus asked her hesitantly and cocked his head to the side.

"Positive."

"You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were nothing more then some unusual, lonely bounty hunter." Festus told her with an unreadable expression.

"And now?" Shao prompted him with a hand gesture.

"Now? I think there is far more to you than meets the eye. Mei Misaki."

 _If only you knew_. Shao thought with a smirk and turned around towards the airlock.

"See you around, Festus." Shao said just before she disappeared from his sight. She hadn't had to walk far to get to her apartment, not that she would stay here for long either. No, it was almost time for annual homecoming.

In three days, a shuttle would leave the Citadel and bring her to Mindoir.

Home.

 **Endnotes:**

 _ **Nomad-117:**_ _Phew, that was longer than at first anticipated, but considering that I still simply write by instinct, I guess I did rather well. Or at least I hope so. However, if it is any consolation then I already have the rough outline for the chapter in my head, somewhere. Regardless of that, please tell me what you think._


	3. Echoes of Past Lives

**Chapter 3: Echoes Of Past Lives**

For the last three days, Shao had mostly meditated for various reasons. For one, she wanted to focus her mind and gather her thoughts, since in her unique profession, a focused mind was a deadly one. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, she was trying to improve her eagle vision. While nothing was wrong with her sixth sense, she did her best to accelerate its evolution into the fabled eagle sense only few Assassins had developed. Eagle sense was essentially a heightened or rather improved form of eagle vision. It made spotting targets easier, or at all possible when they were disguised, and granted the ability to sense where the target had gone or even where they would go. If one managed to truly master it, they could even pick up cold trails again, or since it extended further than just vision, it also allowed those with the gift to smell things that a human ordinarily could not, or even listen to someone's heartbeat. Unfortunately for Shao, she had thus far failed to extend her sixth sense that lay dormant within all humans.

Every human could, in theory, develop eagle vision though most needed very intense and long training to have even a chance of attaining it. Shao had been different, she had been one of the 'lucky' ones, those of the human population that had an unusually high amount of precursor genes within them. As such, she could access it far more easily than most, though she certainly hadn't felt lucky as a child. Seeing images, colours, and shapes no one else could had been downright terrifying. She had thought that she was going crazy and even her parents couldn't help her, for even though at least one of them had to have a similarly high amount of precursor genes within themselves, neither of them had exhibited eagle vision in any shape or form.

Sometimes when she inadvertently activated it again she had been so freaked out by what she saw that she had started to scream. This had made her an oddity in school and only a few children had wanted to get to know her. Thankfully it had gotten better by the time she had entered puberty, most likely due to her violently suppressing it. She had rediscovered it during the raid that claimed her parents' lives. Her heightened senses had nearly driven her mad during that time, especially once the batarians had begun to insert the cranial implant without anaesthetisation. She had screamed until her throat was raw, and all the time she had seen the red shapes of her tormentors before her and the blue silhouettes of the pinned down Alliance marines that had been unable to help.

Once she had been freed the Assassins had explained the strange phenomenon to her. She had never been so happy, to finally know for certain that she wasn't crazy, that there were others like her had been a greater relief than she thought possible . Still, after long contemplation she still thought it sad that most of humanity would never see the world like she did, that they would never discover their sixth sense, their heirloom from the precursors, or as they had been apparently called, the Isu. This mysterious ancient race that had created humanity, originally as a docile working force until they rebelled, and war quickly followed. A war that would distract both sides until it was far too late to avoid what would later be called the Great Disaster. This single cataclysmic event incurred tremendous losses on both sides, ending the bloody war between the Isu and humanity in a single stroke. The survivors had then worked together to prevent such a catastrophe from ever happening again. However, due to their slow rate of reproduction, the Isu eventually died out, though some undoubtedly chose to procreate with the remaining human populace.

Shao had often wondered how things would have turned out if the Isu had not died out. Perhaps the Isu and humanity could have lived in peace and eventually braved the dangers of this great and sometimes terrifying galaxy together. For even by this day and age's standards, the technologies left behind by the precursors were most impressive. Though both Assassins and Templars had managed to reverse engineer some of it, the Animus for example, scholars on both sides of the conflict were baffled as to why the Isu apparently never left earth. Given their advanced technology, they should have had no trouble doing so. The leading theory was that due to their few numbers, they never left earth and the safety it provided, for each life lost in the coldness of space would have been a grievous blow to their society.

And so far, no other planet in the galaxy had shown signs of Isu technology, not even unmanned probes. The temples and relics left behind were strictly guarded by both secret societies, though it wasn't uncommon for one to try to attain a relic in the others possession. However, both sides had come to the unspoken agreement that the precursor artifacts were to remain on earth, and so far neither side had broken that agreement. How they managed to hide all those temples and artifacts was something Shao couldn't even imagine, she just knew that they did and that was enough for her.

Speaking of the two sides, even though their conflict had spread and infected members of others species with their clashing ideologies, it was still mostly fought by humans. That said, most of humanity remained unaware of the war fought in the shadows of society. Perhaps it was for the best that they would never know some truths, for history often was vastly different then most of them believed.

Since the introduction of their species to the galaxy at large, both Assassins and Templars had taken even greater steps to ensure their continued secrecy. Although there were a number of incidents where the salarian STG or some shadow broker agent almost succeeded in discovering at least a partial truth. Both secret societies agreed that some intelligence services within the galaxy most likely knew that _something_ was going on, but they didn't know what. If they weren't grossly incompetent, then they had undoubtedly deduced that humanity was in the centre of it all.

The sound of an alarm going off shook the Assassin from her musings and she looked at her omni-tool. It was from one of her spy programs she had managed to get into the C-Sec mainserver. Apparently it had detected a C-Sec deployment near the shuttle she would take in less than an hour.

 _Have they somehow discovered my involvement in Nassana Dantius fortunate demise_? Shao wondered silently, while unlikely it was still a distinct possibility. _I never use a fake name during my travels to Mindoir, would cause more suspicion if I did, especially if someone were to check. Still, as far as the Citadel is concerned I am a law abiding citizen, who changes her address from time to time._

The Assassin decided to pull the relevant data from the server to check if they were laying a trap for her or if this perhaps had nothing to do with her. The report was made by a certain Lieutenant Girard who claimed that there was a scared and confused girl with a weapon that was threatening to kill herself. A girl that been a slave for the past thirteen years. A girl from Mindoir.

Shao had begun to act before she even had the chance to think about it properly. She deactivated her omni-tool, and put her day to day robes over her usual skin tight suit. While still fitting in with the clothing style of the galaxy, they also ensured that she could effortlessly hide smaller weapons, such as pistols. Of course they were not nearly as sophisticated as her Assassin's combat clothes that were filled with technology most couldn't even imagine.

Still, the black cloth would do the trick as she packed two pistols, just in case. She ran out of her apartment, absently locked the door, and ran right towards the docking bay in which the standoff was taking place. To get there she usually would have had to use the Elevator, but right now she lacked both time and patience to do so. Since the nineteenth century the rope launcher was usually part of an Assassin's equipment, in time it had only become smaller and more efficient, let alone more sophisticated in that most rope launchers now were magnetic and could easily stick to any metallic surface. Pulling her hood up, Shao raised her arm, and fired a rope that shortly after attached itself to the far higher wall, and a moment later she shot upwards. She could hear a few startled gasps from some passersby beneath her, but she paid them no mind.

While it was certainly an unusual sight, most would forget about it in a short time. None had had the time to pull out their omni-tool and record her unexpected stunt. And since no one had been able to recognize her, she wouldn't have any problems with C-Sec in that regard either. Just because she was in a hurry didn't mean she was sloppy.

She wouldn't allow this young girl to die if she could help it. Some part of her was probably acting out of guilt. After she had been freed and joined the Brotherhood, she had focused on what was before her and not on the ruins of her past life. The few thoughts she allowed herself to have concerning her past life had been selfish. She had told herself that the others had been freed as well or had already perished. Clearly she had been mistaken. She had told herself a lie that she chose to believe instead of looking for the truth, and this girl was probably just one of many who had paid the price for her negligence.

It didn't her take long to reach the necessary altitude, on another space station she would have probably been stuck now, but the Citadel was full of maintenance ducts for the keepers. And she had memorized the location of each of them in close vicinity to her home. So all she had to do was force her way into one of them and crawl in before retracting her rope. What followed were a few moments of her crawling through the shaft before she found a suitable exit point, she even managed to do so without being noticed or damaging the cover on this side.

She took a moment to take it all in, C-Sec officers gently but firmly herded a group of dock workers and curious onlookers back towards the elevators. Farther away she could see a sharpshooter in position, his rifle pointing roughly in the direction of a few shipping containers. Deciding that it was better to appear as non-threatening as possible she pulled down her hood and approached the officer that looked like he was directing this operation.

"Lieutenant Girard? I heard that you have a problem with a scared girl from Mindoir?" The Assassin said to him and waited for his reaction.

"Who are you? And who told you that?" Girard demanded calmly even if he appeared a little suspicious.

"My name is Shao Yu." She told him and showed him, her identification card. "As for who told me…" Shao merely looked back at the sizeable group of workers and onlookers that were now finally stepping into the elevators and turned back to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I see, but I still don't see what you're doing here. Civilians were asked to clear the area." The C-sec officer told her with a sigh.

"Please, Lieutenant I came here to offer my help-." Shao began but was cut off by the officer as he shook his head.

"I appreciate the offer ma'am, but I already asked Spectre Shepard to come and-"

This time it was Shao that interrupted him. "Lieutenant, if you paid any attention to my identification, then you will have noticed that I was born on Mindoir as well, and unlike Spectre Shepard, I was not among the ones that escaped."

The man's eyes widened substantially at that tidbit of information and he was about to say something when she went on. "Which leads me to believe that I can understand her better then Shepard could. If you're worried about my safety, then you should know that I worked as a private investigator for some time, so I'm used to dangerous situations. And last but not least, who do you think will appear less threatening to her, me? Or the Spectre?"

Girard stared at her silently for a few moments before nodding. "Very well, you convinced me. You can go, but take this sedative with you, we prepared it to calm her down but we couldn't get close to her."

Shao took the sedatives with a nod before casting a glance over her shoulder. "Is the sharpshooter really necessary? Sounds more like she is danger to herself rather than anyone else."

"I agree, but procedures have to be kept." The lieutenant told her uncomfortably. "She is right behind those shipping containers."

"Understood." The Assassin replied and slowly walked towards said containers.

"Please, just don't push her too hard. If it looks like she's going to pull the trigger, back off. I'm willing to wait her out." Girard asked her pleadingly, she replied with a single firm nod. She wouldnt fail, this girl would get out of here alive if she had any say in that matter. Shao took great care to ensure that her steps were audible, she didn't want to scare the poor girl by suddenly appearing before her. The irony of this situation was not lost on her, once she had to take care to move silently now she had to concentrate to ensure the opposite.

She slowly rounded the corner and was met by the gaze of a startled young woman who hastily lifted a pistol in her direction, the weapon trembling in her hand. The Assassin didn't outwardly react but on the inside she was violently suppressing her instinct to disarm the former slave before her. She drank in the sight before her, the shaven head, the wild gleam in those eyes. The used clothes that had probably been given to her after she had been freed. However, what stood out the most was her thin frame, she was most definitely malnourished, and judging from the way her knees were shaking, she could barely stand up straight.

 _How did she manage to steal a pistol in that condition? The officers shouldn't have had any trouble preventing that_. Shao wondered briefly before she decided to focus on getting the girl out of here alive. After that she could question the competence of C-Sec.

"S-stop! What do you- Who are you?" The girl cried out hysterically, breathing heavily with panic.

"I'm Shao, and I'm human, just like you. I've come to help you." She answered softly, her voice compelling the scared woman to relax. "And who are you?"

"Animals don't get names. The masters put their symbols on her. Hot metal all over her back. She screams when they do." The shaking woman answers feverishly.

"You're not an animal." Shao told her hoarsely, her throat suddenly dry. She still remembered the pain when she was branded, her own screams echoing across the landscape. She had to struggle not to scream those words at the traumatized woman. Her anger wasn't directed at the scared girl in front of her, but at those that had done those things to her. Deep within her, a rage awoke she had thought long buried. The desire to find those responsible, those who had participated in the raid, and kill them all, returned to the forefront of her mind.

After she had healed and trained, her thoughts had returned to the horrors that she had had to endure. Full of rage and with the arrogance of youth, she had hunted slavers in the Traverse, even though her training had not yet been finished. In the end she had walked right into a trap laid by those she had pursued, but her mentor, one of those who had freed her, the one who trained her, had rescued her but got wounded in the process.

What followed had been a lecture she would never forget accompanied by the realization that her actions had gotten the one person in the galaxy who gave her a second chance hurt. He had told her that if she ever thought about acting so reckless again, he would exile her from the Brotherhood himself. In the end, she had asked him why he hadn't, in retrospect her actions had been nothing but her own lust for revenge which could have compromised the Brotherhood. More importantly, someone could have gotten killed, beyond the batarians anyway. He had looked at her for a long moment before he said something to her that would stay with her the rest of her life. "Until you have experience the thirst for vengeance, you cannot know the rage it fuels. Unlike others however… I have experienced it." And then he had hugged while she clung to him, cried while babbling out apology after apology.

In the end that event had lead her to take meditation in an effort to control her darker impulses, but now confronted by this they came crashing back. But Shao pushed past it to the best of her ability as she held up her empty hands to the former slave in front of her. "Think back, before the pain, before the masters. The people who raised you, your parents what did they call you?" She asked, her voice still raw with emotions as those memories returned to her.

"Talitha. They call her that. She- she doesn't remember the rest. Leave her alone." The newly identified Talitha cried, but she seemed to be calmer than before.

"Do you remember Mindoir? Your home?" The Assassin questioned gently but firmly. Her mind racing, trying to remember a Talitha back on Mindoir, but no matter how hard she tried to remember she couldn't recall anyone with that name from her past. No surprise, the colonies on their shared homeworld had been numerous and large. She could have lived on the other side of the planet for all Shao knew.

"She remembers green fields, sun, heat. Heat is bad. Makes work difficult for her, makes masters unhappy." Talitha muttered more to herself, but went on. "Heat… Fires. Smoke and burning meat. Screaming animals as the masters cage them, put metal on their backs, wires in their brains."

"You remember the raid." Shao stated softly, her voice finally having regained its softness.

"They tell her to run, they hit the masters. But the masters, they have lights and hoses. Daddy's- he's melting! S-she doesn't wanna see that. Don't make her look. Don't look! Stupid. Stupid." The girl went on, her previous calm all but destroyed again.

"I'm sorry, Talitha. I know how you feel. My parents died that night as well. I was running home when the attack hit, I came home in time to see my parents burning alive in the ruins of our house." Shao told her and lowered her head, even after all this time it still hurt to think about.

"Lying! You get hit for lying. Get the buzz or the burning. Can't be there." Talitha protested vehemently shaking her head in denial.

"I was, and like you I was taken by the masters." Shao told her and slowly turned around before moving her hair out of the way. She was sure she heard a just audible hiss from somewhere as the horrible scars on her neck were revealed, but Shao ignored it. "Do you see the scars on my neck? That's where they put the wires in my brain."

She waited for a moment and turned around again to look at Talitha again. The young woman was rubbing her own neck at the moment. "You have the same scars as she does, but… Why aren't you broken? Why aren't you like her?"

"I was for a time. I wasn't just broken, I was shattered and I thought that this was how I was going to stay. But I had help, some good people helped me. They gave me a new purpose." Shao said softly and took a careful step towards her fellow survivor.

"No! She is no good. Don't want to be handled again." Talitha said and lifted her hands as if to defend herself.

"No one is going to handle you. Not ever again. That time of your life is at an end." Shao told her calmly, though it broke her heart to see the fear in Talitha's eyes. The fear of the unknown. "I know this is difficult, you have only known your masters' abuse for the last thirteen years, but things are different now, better."

"She wants to believe that, but she cannot. If she does then this was real. It can't be real, she doesn't want it to be real." Talitha cried and clutched her head as if in pain. "This doesn't happen to her. It's another girl. A dirty girl. She deserves it!"

"No one deserves that." Shao disagreed and took another slow step towards her.

"She doesn't want- Don't touch her!" Talitha cried out, breathing heavily but otherwise didn't react, no defensive movements or attempts to increase the distance between them. A good sign in Shao's opinion.

"I'm sorry Talitha, but it's real. It happened to you, just like it happened to me." The Assassin told her seriously, a part of her wanting to take the final step, but she didn't want to compromise everything when she was so close to saving that girl from herself.

"Why? What did she do to deserve this? She was a good child." Talitha demanded, whimpering as she looked at the woman in front of her.

"You didn't do anything to deserve this, Talitha. You were a good child. Sometimes… sometimes bad things happen to good people for no reason." Shao replied heavily, it was a question she had asked herself often, but there was no happiness to be found on that path, only despair.

Talitha looked her in the eyes as if she was searching for something. "You lost your mommy and daddy. But you are no longer broken. You stand up." The young woman suddenly fell to her knees, and choked out. "She wishes she could stand up."

Without another thought Shao took a step closer and kneeled in front of her. "You _can_ , Talitha. Sometimes you just need people that make sure that you keep standing." She said softly and offered the distraught woman her hand.

"Please, don't touch her. She's dirty. You'll catch it." Talitha murmured weakly.

"I won't touch you, if you don't want me to." Shao promised her and withdrew her hand. "But I have something for you." She pulled out the sedatives. "This will make you sleep. While you sleep they will take you to a place where you can get better."

Talitha seemed to think for a moment before she took the sedatives and swallowed them. "Will she have bad dreams?" The former slave asked fearfully.

"No. No bad dreams. When you fall asleep, you will dream of the bright future that lies ahead of you." Shao told her gently as the girl in front of her became already drowsy.

"She'd like that. It hurts when she- when I remember… me. But she wants to remember." Talitha said slowly, and moved to hug Shao. The Assassin returned the hug awkwardly, surprised. It was this moment where she realized that she hadn't been hugged in years. She pulled Talitha in a tighter, though still gentle embrace.

"I'll visit you if you'd like, Talitha." Shao offered hesitantly, in this moment she only wanted to help the girl in any way she could.

"She'd… like that." Talitha mumbled sleepily and closed her eyes. She would have fallen if Shao hadn't held onto her and gently lowered her to the ground.

The Assassin breathed out relief at the outcome and took a moment to compose herself. Her conversation with Talitha had brought back many bad and painful memories, but in the end it had been worth it.

However it had also revealed that the rage she thought had disappeared still resided within her, and she was afraid that this thirst for vengeance would stay with her until the day she died. She definitely would need to meditate again, perhaps even ask her mentor for advice. She hadn't spoken to him in many weeks, but she most definitely should.

She slowly picked Talitha up, carrying her bridal style, her mind racing with possibilities. Perhaps she could offer Talitha a purpose like the one she had been given, but she discarded the thought almost immediately. Talitha had suffered more than enough for one life, and the life of an Assassin would only bring more pain and suffering. No, the young woman in her arms was a gentle soul, the farther she remained from the bloodshed, the better off she would be.

With those thoughts in mind she walked around the shipping containers with the intention of handing Talitha over to the paramedics. That was when she saw something she most certainly hadn't expected. Her instincts immediately kicked in and she began looking for a way out of this.

Multiple C-Sec officers plus paramedics, but they could be disregarded for the moment. Next was the young quarian, obviously inexperienced and nervous, given the way she was wringing her hands, she was armed but lacked the training to keep up with her. To the right stood an asari, which meant biotic, she had fought commandos before and this one lacked the deadly gracefulness they exhibited. She looked more like a scholar than anything else despite the body armor she wore.

And in the centre the greatest threat, human female, N7 armor, which of course meant that she was very well trained. Still, Shao had already spotted three possible weak points for her attacks when she shook herself out of her thoughts and reminded herself that no one here wanted to attack or detain her.

No, she was looking at her childhood friend all grown up, and this time her friend was staring right back. The stare was rather intense like the Spectre couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Shao?" Shepard asked disbelieving and took a step forward.

"Hey, Jenny. It's good to see you again."

 **Endnotes:**

 _ **Nomad-117:**_ _Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even when it probably wasn't what you were expecting. However I figured I should use the chance and tell you a bit more about Shao and the ME/AC universe I have somehow put together. Aside from that, let's be honest I can't have her stabbing people every chapter, now can I? Also, I wanted to apologize for the long wait, however I've got good news, I have already begun to write chapter 4. So there is that I suppose. Until next time. See you._

 _ **Vergil1989:**_ _Well, you COULD have Shao stabbing people every chapter, but it works better when she doesn't have to lol. In all seriousness though, sorry it took so long to get this story updated. You can blame me for that one, I had Nomad busy over on my profile with a story called_ _ **Trouble With Gehenna**_ _. This story deserves just as much love and attention though because it's pretty good if you want my opinion. At any rate, enjoy folks, and hope to see you again at a later date._


	4. Many Meetings

**Chapter 4: Many Meetings**

Green eyes stared into dark brown ones. neither of them willing to break eye contact. Shao was dimly aware about how the quarian and the asari exchanged a confused look behind their leaders' back. The paramedics were obviously wondering what was going on as well but it did not stop them from doing their job as they approached her with a stretcher.

She gently laid Talitha's sleeping body upon it, and was shocked to discover that it looked even frailer now that she was asleep then before.

"Take good care of her, she's been through a lot." Shao told them softly before returning her gaze back to her old friend. Who unlike her had never stopped looking. She was uncertain what to do as the paramedics left with the still form of the traumatized form on their stretcher.

Jennifer stood in front of her, eyes staring into her own and her face was an expressionless mask. However, her hands were slightly shaking. Shao was wondering whether it was from relief or anger, or perhaps a combination of the two when the Spectre began to clench her hands into bloodless fists. _Anger, of course it's anger_. Shao thought dryly and braced herself. If her friend hadn't changed too much then she would unleash a scolding of epic proportions upon her.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say? After all these years? A measly 'It's good to see you again' as if nothing happened, as if we had just met yesterday?." Jennifer said quietly, her voice practically overflowing with anger. "I thought you were dead, Shao. After the attack… I found your burned house and no sign of you anywhere. I thought you had either died or had been taken. And now after all this time you simply show up and expect everything to be like it was before? How da-"

"What would you want me to say? You saw my scars didn't you? I _was_ taken, for three years I was nothing more than an animal to them, something that did all their work and if they felt like it, something to be tortured." Shao whispered but her voice silenced the enraged Spectre. "I got lucky, some mercenaries raided the estate I was being kept in, got me out of there. Not that it did me much good at first. Both my mind and body were exhausted and at an end. It took me a long time to heal."

"And after that? Why didn't you contact me? Didn't you think that your best friend deserved to know that you were still alive?" Shepard shot back, apparently unwilling to concede defeat just yet. Not that she could blame her, she would probably act the same if their situation was reversed.

"After that?" Shao questioned gently and snorted. "After that I had no way of contacting you, no address. And you had just saved Elysium from the pirate attack. I wonder how many people tried to contact you then, and how many the Alliance blocked by withholding your data. How many do you think they are blocking right now, Spectre? How many of them claim to know you from days long since past?"

"That's not the point." Jennifer said with a shake of her head but didn't get the chance to elaborate further.

"Then what is? That you deserved to know? Yes, you did. But I lacked the means to contact you." Shao replied with a shake of her own head. She didn't like the situation she was in. Adrenalin was pumping through her veins and her fight or flight instinct was at the edge of consciousness. Of course she was familiar with it, if there was no chance of completing the objective or only the certainty of the death, she retreated. If she could fight her way through then she would fight and eradicate every threat in the vicinity, not that that was a viable option at the moment. With a sigh she went on. "Or perhaps that's just what I tell myself, because I don't even know what to say to you. Back then we always could talk about something, school, parents, working on the fields, cute boys. Now though… what should I say to you? I'm...at a loss."

"I-I'm sorry, Shao." Jenny said and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's just… all those years I thought you were dead, and now you suddenly stand before me, apparently completely fine and I just thought that perhaps you didn't contact me because you held me responsible."

That took the Assassin aback and she blinked in surprise. Apparently she wasn't the only one to suffer from guilt when remembering Mindoir. "What? Why would I hold you responsible for all that's happened?"

"It's stupid but, I once promised you that I would protect you, after you had just been bullied again. Shortly after that the attack hit, and I thought maybe you somehow thought it was my fault for not protecting you and your parents." Shepard said sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

"Jenny, that must have been the single most dumbest thing I've ever heard." Shao said bluntly and shook her head. She made it a point to ignore the shocked expressions of everyone within hearing range of her tone. "What could you have done exactly? You were sixteen, unarmed without any training and they had just attacked your own home. There was nothing you could have done, if you had tried to help they would have gotten you too. Or killed you."

"Bu-"

"No buts." The Assassin said firmly and took a step towards her friend. "I do not hold you responsible, so there is no reason for yourself to do so. If you do then I swear to god I will make you regret it."

The Spectre let out a small laugh at that. "That's the Shao I remember. You've always been stubborn."

"It's one of my more endearing traits." Shao deadpanned and lifted her arm for a handshake. "So, friends?"

She was not prepared for the bone crushing hug that Jenny answered her with. _What is it with hugs today, first I don't get any in years and now two on one day_. She thought pleasantly surprised. She knew that this short conversation hadn't wiped away all of the doubts her friends may have had, but it was a start and for now that was good enough for her.

"Of course we're friends, you idiot." Shepard replied to her question and released her from her embrace.

"Hey!"

"Oh shut up and let me enjoy this. I've missed you." The Spectre said, still smiling, a few unshed tears in her eyes.

"I've missed you too, but you don't see me insulting you." Shao replied with an eyeroll, delighted by how fast they seemed to reconnect. Until that moment, a part of her had always feared that their friendship would never rekindle.

"Well first of all you did pretty much call me dumb, and second, you threatened me earlier, remember?" Shepard shot back without missing a beat.

"The first point is inaccurate, I called your _idea_ dumb, there's a difference. And for the second point… touche." Shao was forced to admit with a small smile, before it slid of her face when she checked the time. With a grimace she realised that she had just missed her flight back home, but for a chance to renew her friendship, she would gladly miss it a dozen more times.

"Something wrong?" Her friend asked concerned when she saw the Assassin grimace.

"Just realised that I missed my flight, but I found you again, so that more than makes up for it." She answered easily. She didn't need Jenny feeling guilty about her missing the shuttle, if she knew her friend at all she probably would despite her best efforts but perhaps she could at least lessen the guilt.

"Damn, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have wasted your time a-"

"Jenny, I said it was fine. Please, do me the favour and believe me. If I were unhappy about it you would know, trust me." Shao cut her off and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Alright. Uh, can you walk and talk? I kinda need to go to the Citadel Tower, but I would like to catch up with you. So…" She weakly gestured towards one of the elevators behind her.

"Sure, I would like that." Shao said with a small smile and followed her friend into the elevator. The quarian and asari followed without any prompting from her friend.

"Keelah, this is awkward." She heard the quarian mutter under her breath.

"I agree." The Assassin said, surprising the other three occupants of the elevator. "So, perhaps we should make it less awkward by introducing ourselves. I am Shao Yu, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

The quarian seemed taken aback by her politeness, not that it was surprising, many inhabitants of the galaxy seemed to dislike quarians. Shao however had met a few during her travels and was quite fond of them. If you actually bothered to speak to them they could tell you a lot of fascinating stories and things you would never find in a book about quarians and their travels.

"I am Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. It's a pleasure to meet you." The quarain said after a short pause, appearing genuinely happy to meet her.

"And I am Liara T'soni. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The asari followed suit, but seemed more unsure and socially awkward then her quarian companion.

"How long have you known Jenny, here?" Shao asked pleasantly and smiled at both of them. If they were friends of her friend she at the very least would give them a chance.

"Uh, I've known Shepard for about two weeks now." Tali mumbled shyly and began to wring her hands again.

"I've known her for roughly four days." Liara replied more clearly but avoided any form of eye contact.

"Wait… Shepard? Do you ask them to call you that or is it just typical military regulation?" She asked with an amused smile, unable to think of an occasion where she would call Jenny only by her last name.

"Heh, I wish." Jennifer chuckled with a smile sent her way. "I actually try to get people to call me by my first name but everyone seems adamant about calling me Shepard."

"Strange, I always thought it rude to just call someone by their last name but maybe that's just me." The Assassin mused more to herself than anyone else. Before anyone had the chance to reply the elevator finally arrived at its destination and they stepped out of it.

While they made their way to the transit station Shao absently waved at a few familiar faces in the crowd that had gathered to gape at the new Spectre.

"Friends of yours?" Her friend wanted to know and looked at the crowd uncomfortably.

"Neighbours." Shao corrected with a shrug. "I don't live too far from here."

"Ah." The Spectre said and sent a glance her way.

"Whats with the 'Ah'? You want to come to my place later or what?" She asked amused and looked at the red haired woman next to her. "You know I wouldn't mind, if you want you could also bring your friends. I know a few shops that offer great dextro food, so I would have something for you as well, Tali."

"As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer, I can't. You undoubtedly know that I'm hunting Saren, and at any moment a new lead could come up that I would have to hunt down." Her green eyed friend replied with a heavy sigh, and in that moment Shao wished that she could offer her skills to the hunt, but she knew that soon another mission would come up for her. "Still, thanks for the offer Shao."

"Yes, thank you. That was very considerate of you." Tali agreed with the human commander and smiled at the Assassin underneath her mask.

"It is no trouble, Tali'Zorah. I guess you are on your Pilgrimage?" Shao asked as they climbed into the air taxi.

"Yes, how did you know?" The quarian woman wondered, her earlier shyness momentarily forgotten.

"You are not the first quarian I've met. Most of them had been on their Pilgrimage, and I think that if more people were to talk to your people, they would find out just what a fascinating and rich culture you possess." The Assassin replied honestly before her tone turned wistful."I've always wanted to see the Migrant Fleet with my own eyes, or perhaps even come aboard one of its ships, but your people are rightly distrustful of outsiders."

"That's an unusual point of view for an outsider." Tali said and cocked her head to the side curiously.

"Ask Jenny, she'll tell you that I've always been unusual." The Assassin joked back. She looked to her right where the human soldier sat. "Just wondering, where is this thing taking us? Hopefully not the Citadel Tower, because I don't think I am allowed there."

 _Not that that would stop me if I had to get there but still_. She added in thought and waited for an answer.

"No, we'll land in the Presidium. Less illegal for you that way, though I could probably get you out of any legal difficulties, and we get to talk more." Jennifer said with a small shrug.

"Devious, Commander." Shao snarked with a smile and turned towards the Asari. "Just wondering, you don't exactly look like a soldier. Too shy for one. So how did you end up with Jenny, as I recall she isn't exactly the safest person to be around."

"I take offense to that." The first human Spectre said with a huff and crossed her arms in front of her.

"You can take as much offense as you like, doesn't change the fact that I got more often blamed for pranks you did then you got blamed for them." Shao said with a playful narrowing of her eyes, before she turned back to the Asari just as the taxi landed. "I apologize for that, please. Go on."

"I'm actually a xenoarchaeologist and the geth, th-they attacked my excavation site. Shepard rescued me and thought that I could help her." Liara summarized while stepping out of the taxi and into the light of the Presidium.

"I am sorry to hear about the geth, that must have been difficult." Shao said emphatically. "If you ever need to talk about it, I'd be willing to listen."

"Thank you." The asari said with slight inclination of her head towards her but Shao could already tell that Dr. T'soni would not take her up on that offer.

With a quick glance ahead the Assassin identified the reopened embassies bar, they had been forced to close, at least until the investigation was concluded. Not that it hurt their finances too much, with the outrageous prices they demanded in there.

"I was here two weeks ago, I wanted to meet with an asari emissary, but she got murdered just before I got here. What are the odds." Jennifer said with a shake of her head.

"She had been murdered? Here, in the heart of the Citadel?" Shao asked with fake surprise. "Did they catch the murderer?"

"No, they didn't. Whoever did this was a professional." Her friend told her and sent a glance up to the bars balcony. "They somehow approached her unseen and stabbed her."

"Oh my god." Shao whispered and put a hand to her mouth in apparent horror. "Who could have done such a thing?" _Okay, perhaps I'm overdoing it a little_. She thought with an internal shrug before she focused her attention back on her friend.

"No idea, but I'm sure that C-Sec will get them in no time." The Spectre told her with a smile, to Shao it was obvious that Jenny didn't believe that herself but perhaps that was only because she had become quite adept at reading body language. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. It's just, you've always been perceptive, I thought perhaps you had seen or heard something?"

 _In the mirror, yes_. Shao thought to herself but instead answered. "No, I'm sorry to say. I don't come here often, I stand out in my usual clothes and then everyone keeps looking at me weirdly."

"Yeah, I get that. They don't seem overly fond of my armor either." Her friend said jokingly.

"If you two think that's bad then you should see the looks they give me." Tali said with a snort and shook her head in annoyance. "You would think I would have personally insulted every one of them by coming here."

"Yes, but in the end, if we want anything to change then we will have to bring this change about ourselves, the galaxy most certainly won't do it by itself." Shao told the young quarian with a small smile.

"Well said, even if it does sound kinda cynical." Her friend commented.

"Things happen, not all of them good. If we wish to take control of our lives after such a thing then we must do so ourselves and by our own free will." Shao replied quietly just as they stopped before the elevator that would bring her friend to the political heart of the galaxy. "You still have to give me a way to contact you though."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot." The Spectre apologized and activated her omni-tool just as Shao did the same with hers. A moment later she received all the necessary information for her to contact her friend again and vice versa.

"Thanks, Jenny." Shao said with a smile, though also sad that she couldn't spend more time with her old friend. "I guess I'll be seeing you around once you've dealt with Saren?"

"Actually, I planned for the crew and myself to visit Flux this evening. You coming? I would really appreciate it." Jennifer Shepard said and shifted subtly on her feet, a movement Shao was familiar with.

"Sure, as soon as you explain to me why you told me that you couldn't visit me in my own home earlier because you had to be prepared in case of news about Saren." The Assassin replied wryly and crossed her arms. "You've planned this from the start, I only want to know why."

"I didn't want to cause you any work, and if I had simply said 'no' you would have ignored me. Because, let's face it, you are more stubborn than a mule." The red haired soldier shot back her lips quirking in amusement.

"That's true." She was forced to concede. "So what time you wanna meet?"

"How about seven PM? Should give everyone enough time to get ready until then." Her friend answered with a small shrug. "See you then?"

"Definitely, until later Jenny. Tali'Zorah. Dr. T'soni." She replied and inclined her head towards the later two and waved when they stepped into the elevator.

Once the doors had closed she turned around and made her way to the air taxi from earlier. She still had a few things to do before joining her friend this evening. She briefly wondered if she should dress accordingly before she had to concede that she most likely had to. Her street clothes would otherwise make sure that she would stand out amongst Jennifer and her crew.

She disliked dresses, those infernal contraptions made fighting far more difficult than it had to be, and more often than not failed to conceal weapons as efficiently as other clothes and if they did, than she had trouble reaching them in time should something go awry. In short, she hated them a lot.

With those thoughts in mind she climbed into the air taxi and ordered it to bring her close to her home. However still some distance away, she had no interest in being stopped and asked about how she knew the first human spectre. The flight seemed to take longer this time, though she was most likely only perceiving it that way with the lack of conversation.

However, no matter how long it may have appeared to be, Shao arrived at her destination and jumped out of the air taxi. Without a backwards glance she made her way towards her home. Putting her considerable training to use to remain undetected. Her mind racing with countless thoughts.

One of the most prominent was of course about her friend, but not in the way she had expected. She had always expected that should they rekindle their friendship that she would be happier than before, and in a way that held true. However no matter how hard she tried she couldn't help but feel bad for lying to her friend about, almost everything. Which lead to more disturbing thoughts.

 _If I have to choose between Jenny and the Brotherhood. What would I choose? What is the right choice_? Shao wondered, absently dodging passersby without really taking notice of them. _What is more important? The single life of my friend or the unknown numbers of my new family? If Jenny were to find out and decide we are a threat, what then_?

She needed advice on a few things, she decided as she unlocked the door of her apartment and stepped in. With a glance at her no longer needed packed clothes she walked to the small terminal she had set up. Of course she could have contacted her Mentor over her omni-tool, but she had done everything she could think of to ensure that any communication from her terminal was untraceable, and the cyber-experts of the Brotherhood had only enhanced it further.

Thankfully she didn't have to wait long until the face of her mentor appeared. His hair had started to gray and there were a few more wrinkles in his face then in the years before but she knew that he was still as strong as ever.

"Mentor." She said and inclined her head respectfully in his direction.

"Shao, it is good to see you again. I have heard about your work with the Dantius siblings. I trust that you are well." He said gently, clearly happy to see her but also a little worried about her wellbeing. As long as Shao could remember he had always been that way with her, though she supposed that stemmed from the fact that he had seen her shattered and broken on the ground of that batarian estate.

"I am unhurt, mentor. Although there are a few things… I could use your advise." Shao said slowly and looked him in the eye, this one of the few she knew whom she could tell everything and so far he had always been able to help her.

"Then I shall do my best to give it to you. What ails you, my little bird?" Her mentor said softly and she had to smile at the term of endearment.

And so she told him about Talitha first, how the conversation had brought back those painful memories and more importantly the rage and the thirst for vengeance. "I now fear that I will suffer it till the end of my days, mentor. However you once told me that you knew it as well, I hoped… that you would know of a way to defeat it."

"That is difficult to say. Over the centuries many Assassins suffered its touch, but I am afraid I cannot help you. For what helped me may do the opposite for you." He cautioned her, his expression emphatic as he looked her in the eye. "Your deeds from years past still burden you heavily, and it is because of this that you want to rid yourself of its influence."

"I- yes." Shao admitted shamefully and lowered her head.

"Your caution is admirably, but hardly necessary." He told her and she looked up abruptly, shocked by his words. "You still desire vengeance, and that is only natural but you didn't follow your desire for it. I believe that you have already conquered it."

"I… I thank you, mentor." She said, honored by his trust in her and wished that she were right next to him so that she could hug him. Even if she wasn't sure if she believed him, perhaps she would in time.

"You do not have to thank me, this achievement is your own making." Her mentor said with a small smile. "But there is more, isn't that so?"

"Yes, I met my old friend. Jennifer Shepard and now I am conflicted." Shao was forced to admit. "I am overjoyed that she still considers me a friend but…"

"You are afraid what will happen when she finds the truth about you and perhaps even the entire Brotherhood." He said, perceptive as ever and his features softened even more. "First I would like to warn you. You undoubtedly remember that the Brotherhood isn't infallible. And the same holds true for me."

"I remember." Shao replied and thought back to her lessons. The Templars had uploaded the story of Shay Patrick Cormac into the Assassins network in the early twenty first century, in an attempt to demoralize them. Instead the Assassins had taken the lesson to heart.

They had begun to document instances where the Assassin had acted in violation to their codex, or had lost their way such like in the case of Shay Cormac, or the treatment of the last surviving member of the Tsar family, Anastasia who had been unlucky enough to get the genetic memories of the Assassin, Shao Jun imprinted on her, she was accompanied by the Assassin Nikolai Orelov, who rebelled against his former brothers and rescued her. And was later Assassinated by the very order he had served faithfully for so long.

Each such instance was catalogued, and taught to every member of the Brotherhood, in the hope that in doing so the Assassin at large would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

It certainly worked for her, she had made her mentor promise her that he would kill her should she ever act in such a fashion. The stories however had had also an different impact on her, she deeply admired both Nikolai and Shay for their dedication, both had turned their back on everything they knew to do what they perceived as the right thing to do, and Shao found herself agreeing with both of them.

While Shay had been a templar in the end he had only switched sides to save the people, the very same people the Assassins had sworn to protect. She hoped that she could show such strength of character if she ever was confronted with such a difficult choice.

"But why tell me this?" Shao wondered and looked at her mentor in hopes of finding the answer.

"So you know that no matter what I say, it may not help you." He said quietly and his gaze hardened. "However I will tell you this. I don't think you should tell her the truth, at least not yet. Perhaps one day, but right now it would do more harm than good, and why force yourself to decided now when you still have time to think about it and perhaps even convince her of your and by extension our good intentions."

"I can see your point… but do you really think she will understand?" Shao asked hoping for some kind of assurance.

"You know her better than I do. Little bird, sometimes you just have to have faith in your friends." Her mentor said with a small smile. "I will tell you a small story. I was a younger man then, and filled with the adventurous spirit that so many are possessed by. I was amongst the first Assassins to travel to the colonies to establish our own foothold in the galaxy. I and a few of our brothers and sisters were on Shanxi when the attack hit. When it became apparent that the Alliance couldn't stop them with pure force we sought out the Templars we had originally identified to later neutralize them and they agreed that we had to work together to stop them."

Shao stood still entranced by the tale, craving to hear more, while also wondering what this had to do with her situation but she knew her mentor he would get to it soon enough.

"We coordinated our attacks with the Templars, for example they would cause a distraction and we would sneak into the enemy base to assassinate their officers. Although we often changed tactics to keep the turians from adapting. Together we wreaked havoc on the turians, eventually they came to fear us even though they had never seen us and lived to tell about it. Our actions brought General Williams enough time to hold the position until reinforcements arrived. However, during one of our last attacks against the turians… the camp was attacked ahead of schedule and I was wounded by friendly fire. An explosion had blasted some of their buildings apart and the shrapnel had pierced my leg." He paused and his hand lowered probably to rub his leg unconsciously. "I was lying there, unable to move and slowly bleeding out. That was when a young second Lieutenant found me. I knew him, we both had lived in Buenos Aires during our childhood, before I joined the Brotherhood. We kept in contact but still it had been years since the last time I had seen in person. His name was Steven Hackett."

"The admiral?" Shao gasped out in surprise and only her training prevented her from gaping.

"Yes, is that truly so surprising? We Assassin met and befriended a lot of historical figures over the centuries." He reminded her gently. "Anyway, he recognized me as well and even though he knew that I was no Alliance soldier he patched me up enough that I could disappear undetected by the rest of the Alliance forces he only asked me to explain once I got the chance. I did, though I told him from the beginning that I wouldn't tell him the whole story, but now he is aware of our secret war and one of the greatest friends I ever had."

"I… think I understand." Shao said slowly and bowed a little in his direction. "Thank you, mentor. You have been a great help."

"Anytime, little bird. But considering your repeated glances at the clock I guess you have plans for this evening." He replied with a small chuckle.

"I am afraid so, mentor. I apologize for cutting this s-"

"No, please don't apologize. You are still young, little bird. You should enjoy yourself more often." He cut her off with a sad smile and in that moment she saw what she had missed the whole time before. He was worried about something.

"Mentor? Whats going on?" Shao probed gently, if he was worried it was either of great importance or personal.

"Its… I lost contact to Jonathan and Richard Graham." He said after briefly hesitating.

Shao froze for a split second, she had never met Jonathan but his twin brother Richard was familiar. He had been one of the Assassins that had trained her, since he had a high concentration of precursor DNA as well he had taught her how to use her eagle vision. However he had also tested her combat and free run abilities. She had liked him, he had never treated her like something made out of glass. He had pushed her but had also ensured that she didn't push herself to hard.

"Where?" She merely asked and shook her head in shock, unable to believe that both brothers disappeared at the same time.

"Richard last known location is the colony, Feros. He went there under the name Jason Jones as a doctor to help the colonists. In truth he is there to find out what Exogeni is up to." Her mentor replied heavily, of course she knew what Exogeni was, a company that was under heavy Templar influence.

"And Jonathan?" She pressed on, having a feeling that the elder twin was not on Feros.

"We last had contact with Jonathan near Edolus. Where a whole group of Alliance marines was killed by a thresher maw. However, we have reason to believe that he is not among those killed." He replied and paused for a moment. "Your friend, Jennifer. She found evidence that the marines were lured there, perhaps whoever is behind this managed to capture Jonathan."

Shao thought for a short moment weighing her options. "I will go after Jonathan first, Richard is at least on a colony. Jonathan could be anywhere by now, I need something to point me in the right direction."

"I believe I can help you there. Your friend told a certain rear admiral Kahoku about the fate of the marines, since they were under his command. It appears like he is trying to find some sort of trail himself." He sighed heavily and suddenly looked three times older. "If he finds anything I will tell you immediately. In the meantime I will try to find someone who is willing to look for Richard."

"They are fine. You have trained them since they were little, they will be alright." Shao said to him, now wishing more than ever she could give him a hug, wishing she could comfort him with more than mere words.

"I hope you are right." He replied and looked at her. "But until I have new information there is no reason for you not to enjoy yourself tonight."

She opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her with a wave of his hand. "Please, Shao. Do me the favour and enjoy yourself, at least this once? Please?"

"Alright, I promise." She said heavily and lowered her head. One hand come up, palm inwards and stopped over her heart. "Nothing is true, Everything is permitted."

When she looked up he had already broken the connection, and she was standing in her apartment alone, with answers but also new questions. After a moment she decided to prepare for the little party Jenny had put together. She had promised and she always kept her promises. A little distraction would do her good since she would probably stay up most of the night and think about Richard and Jonathan otherwise.

That way she would only stay up the rest of the night and think about Richard and Jonathan, she was reasonably certain that that wasn't better but it was the situation she found herself in.

For now though she had another problem to deal with, namely what to wear for the occasion. With a small grumble she opened her cupboard, despite her hatred for dresses she owned a few, sometimes they were necessary to get close to a target.

However tonight she just wanted to appear as Shao Yu, colonist of Mindoir and not Shao, the feared Assassin. Of course she would take at least some weapons with her, just not as many as usual.

In the end she chose a long black dress that had a side slit on the right side. This way no one could see the the weapons she placed on the inside of her right leg. Just a knife, and a small pistol nothing more. The dress could easily described as elegant, which was exactly what she was aiming for, she had no interest in appearing provocative.

Since birds of a feather flock together she chose to wear the hated high heels to her equally hated dress. Sometimes she wished that she could travel back in time to find whoever thought that women had to dress like this, only to murder him before he could share his idea with the world. It would make things so much easier, but as long as she fit in Shao supposed she could at least tolerate it.

At least that was the thought, however when she arrived at the Flux at point seven and saw what Jennifer and the rest of her crew wore she was ready to strangle her old friend.

"Wow, Shao you look stunning." Her friend greeted her with a smile that slid of her face when she noticed the cold look in her friend's eyes.

"Thank you, Jenny. Though I wish _someone_ had told me that it would be alright to wear something less formal." She replied politely though she was sure to emphasize her words in a way that conveyed her true intentions. Namely death by strangeling. The way had Jenny tensed had Shao sighing, as much as they liked to pretend that nothing changed they still had to get to know one another again, with a shake of her head she conveyed that she wasn't truly cross with her friend.

"Oh." The Spectre said weakly and rubbed her head. "I thought you knew."

"Really?" Shao deadpanned and raised her eyebrows. "So it is custom to come to parties in your casuals? Or in the case of your turian and krogan friend in full armor?"

 _Speaking of which, said krogan is huge even among its kind. I most certainly would use at the very least three of my knives against him to make sure. The turian wears a visor, even in here? No matter, hit hard and fast and he'll go down. Now the two marines…_ Shao stopped that train of thought once she realised that she automatically had begun to create a way to kill each and every crew member present. _Old habits die hard, apparently. Good thing, though. Saved my life a few times already_.

"Good point. But look it that way, the guys won't be able to keep their eyes of you." Her friend said unaware of the thoughts currently running through Shaos head.

"Jenny… just a little warning next time. I don't know if you noticed but I hate dressing up." The Assassin replied after a short pause. "For now, let us just have fun, alright?"

After a nod from her red haired friend they joined one of the tables currently in the crewmembers possession. Shao had to admit that she enjoyed herself, Tali was pleasant company and told her stories she had never heard before. Though admittedly she hadn't had close contact with many quarians, their closely knitted society made it difficult for both Assassins and Templars to gain any form of foothold. As far as she was aware less than half a dozen quarians were currently operating within the Brotherhood, while lacking solid intel she assumed that the numbers for the Templar Order were similar.

The turian, Garrus, always had a remark ready and was not above using sarcasm to amuse himself. Something that Shao had to admit she thought of as entirely untypical for a turian. Most she knew or interacted with tended to be rather rigid in their dealings. It certainly didn't help that the Templars had had an easier time inducting members from the militant species then the Assassins had. Some of their ideologies were rather similar after all, and thus more attractive to the turians then the vague idea of free will offered by the Brotherhood.

The krogan, Wrex was interesting as well. Though he came across as a little moody, and all of this stories seemed to end with lots of bloods and dead people. Not really surprising all things considered. The krogans were after all a species that had been from their very first moments of existence been forced to fight and after all that had happened in the millennia afterwards had both sundered them and made them distrustful of outsiders. A few krogans could be swayed by the arguments of either secret society, but thus far neither side had had much luck with recruitment on a larger scale than a few individuals.

Liara gave the impression like she had never been to such a gathering before. As she didn't seem to know how to act around everyone and kept quiet for most of the time, though Jenny talked a lot to her probably to make sure that she didn't feel left out. Which was quite honestly the first time Shao had seen a socially awkward asari especially one so young, usually they had no trouble connecting with people, even if said connecting often involved sleeping with them. Still, the asari were not to be underestimated despite the immature behaviour of their maidens.

The monogendered species was neither fully committed to either side of the secret war but rather joined both societies in equal measure. Though both Templars and Assassins were trying to get a foothold in more influential positions it was a slow going process due to the long lifespan of the asari, however both sides possessed a patience that would have surprised even a matriarch, having fought their war for longer than recorded history both sides knew the importance of patience in their war.

The two Alliance marines were not what she had expected. One she had already seen on the day she had killed Nassana Dantius. As it turns out Kaidan Alenko was indeed a biotic and furthermore a L2 at that. Shao had to suppress the grimace of sympathy when she heard that, L2 biotics most certainly didn't lead easy lives.

The other one, a certain Lieutenant Ashley Williams was a descendant of General Williams who had fought on Shanxi. She seemed capable, even if her body language suggested distrust towards the non-human members of their crew.

Both marines were currently locked in a drinking contest. Which the Assassin considered to be a really bad idea on the other woman's part. Biotics had accelerated metabolism, which meant that they could process alcohol far faster than no-biotics could.

It was roughly an hour later when Jenny began talking to her with a slur in her voice, although she could tell that her friend only pretended to be drunk. It was hardly something new, whenever Jennifer had wanted to tell her something she deemed uncomfortable or embarrassing she would pretend to blurt it out lost in thought, and no memory of it, or on some rare occasions faked a fall only to then mutter something in her 'daze'.

So the Assassin was of course a little curious what her friend would want to tell her and why she thought that she could deceive her with her old trick, only to remember that she had never actually told the Spectre that she knew the truth.

With a small smile Shao began to sip on her water listening to her friend curiously.

"You know, Shao. When we were younger… I had a huge crush on you." Jenny 'slurred' and took a huge gulp of her own drink. "Thought you should know."

Whatever Shao had expected that wasn't it, she exhaled so abruptly that some of her water exited through her nose, which felt just as unpleasant as it sounded. She did not know why her old friend felt the need to suddenly confess her bygone feelings, but she could guess. Jenny had most likely regretted never telling her how she truly felt and sought to avoid such a situation from ever occurring again. Still, she wasn't the only surprised at the sudden confession, Talis induction port emitted some kind of strange gurgling sound, while Garrus and Wrex merely looked at each other and laughed.

Liara however went bright red and looked away as if she was the one who should be embarrassed by this conversation. Kaidan, apparently still rather sober merely raised an eyebrow in surprise while Ashley's head hit the table with a deep 'bam', which didn't seem to bother her as she began to snore a moment later.

"Looks like I've won." Kaidan said with a small shrug and leaned back. "Well, I warned her."

"Jenny… wha-" The Assassin managed to stammer out, completely caught off guard by the admission. And to be honest she felt a little bad, she didn't swing that way, and she had never noticed Jenny's feeling for her. She wondered how much pain she had caused her friend over the years. After all unrequited love could be one of the most painful things one could suffer from.

"Don't worry, I am over it. Just thought you should know." The Spectre answered in the same fake slur from before. Before she the Assassin could reply her friend was saved by the beeping of her omni-tool. "Oh, better take that."

With that she stood up and left in far too straight line for someone who claimed to be drunk and Shao followed her a few moments later. She needed to talk to her friend, for one thing to tell her that she knew and for another to apologize for any pain that she had caused.

It didn't take her long to find her friend, in a dark corner in the corridor that lead to the recently opened club. As she stepped closer she could hear the last few snippets of the conversation.

"Evidence… Saren… on Feros… Good luck, Commander." The voice from the Spectre omni-tool said and the device shut down a moment later. Her friend let out a heavy sigh and massaged her temples with the heel of her hands.

"Jenny?" Shao questioned softly and her friend whirled around obviously surprised by her presence. "Everything alright?"

"Yes and no. They found a lead to Saren, but that means we have to get going." Jennifer said apologetically and went to walk past Shao.

"Jenny, wait." She called out and grabbed her friend arm. "There is something I need to tell you. First, I can tell when you are acting to get an uncomfortable topic out and later be able to pretend nothing happened. Like just now."

"Oh." The Spectre answered eloquently and blinked slowly.

"And more importantly… I am sorry. I never noticed your crush, and even if I did… I wouldn't have reciprocated your feelings. I want to apologize for all the pain I have caused you." The Assassin said and lowered her head in shame, she hated that fact that she had caused her friend grief without even noticing.

"Hey, that's not your fault. We don't choose who we fall in love with." Her friend said and put a comforting hand on her shoulder threw Shaos own words back at her.. "I do not hold you responsible, so there is no reason for yourself to do so. If you do then I swear to god I will make you regret it."

"Heh, good point. However there is something, I overheard the last few words. You are going to Feros, right?" Shao stated rather then asked and looked her friend in the eye.

"Yeah, why?" The Alliance commander wanted to know and furrowed her brows.

"Because a friend of mine recently went missing there. His name is Jason Jones, a doctor who helped me after I got out." She said to her friend and couldn't help but feel guilty about it. "He went there to help the colonists but I lost contact to him a few days ago, so if you get the chance to ask someone about his whereabouts…"

"I'll see what I can do." Jennifer promised her seriously. "But, I could be the bearer of bad news."

"I know, but it would be better then this uncertainty." The Assassin replied and looked back at her oldest friend. "Jenny, no matter what happens… I hope you find happiness I truly do."

With those words Shao turned and slowly made her way back towards her apartment. The first thing she would do once she had arrived would notify her mentor of the favour she asked of her friend, and then she would prepare for her next assignment. She held no hope that it wouldn't turn bloody, after all the Assassin had long since learned how stuff like this tended to play out.

 **End Notes:**

 _ **Nomad-117:**_ _I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I used it to set certain events into motion. And I even have a rough outline of a plan in my head for more chapters. And to answer at least one question, I have no intention of Shepard joining either Assassins or Templars, but that doesn't mean that she will remain ignorant of them for the rest of her life. No there a multiple scenarios in my head concerning that little revelation._

 _And I apologize for taking so damn long, I just had to rewrite this chapter a few times until I was satisfied with it._


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